This Is All We Got Now
by Wonderland-Dreamer-x
Summary: The struggle between following your heart and following your head is a tough one. So tough, that Kalona must put her life on the line to choose between the crew she's known most of her life and the crew that she's coming to love as family. And then some.


_I. Prologue_

A large galleon, the _Hellbound_, floated peacefully along the Grand Line, letting the ocean current take her to her next destination. It was strange to see such a ship wasn't anchored and, even stranger, to see that it was alight with life at four o' clock in the morning. A relatively small crew was gathered on the main deck, each person looking towards the captain as he took a piece of paper from the newspaper he had collected. He looked up, piercing brown eyes landing on two forms in the front.

"Kalona! Sora!" he called. His voice was quiet but the authority that it held was enough to make each crew member shiver. The two aforementioned crew members stepped forward, their heads bowed in respect. It was too dark to make out their appearances and the dim light from the lantern next to the captain was of little to no help. They looked once he motioned them to. "…I need you two to travel to Louge Town. It is a city located near Reverse Mountain in the East Blue," he said. He played with the ends of the flyer in his hands as the two exchanged looks. The smaller one, the one with the not too thin frame and pinned up hair, looked away first.

"Louge Town? What's so special about Louge Town?" she asked. She fiddled with her hands. She was nervous about the Captain choosing them to go so far from the crew. She looked down when he turned his gaze onto her, deciding that picking at her already short fingernails was much better than meeting her Captain's gaze.

The taller figure pulled a cigarette from between his lips, "Yeah, considering how far it is from here. It'll take us months to get there with a ship!" He didn't stare the Captain in the eyes but choose a point in the middle of his face instead. It made him seem braver, even by a little bit. The Captain looked down at the paper again.

"That's why you're not taking a ship…Sora, you and Kalona are going on your own. And you're taking Kalona's way of transportation," he stated. Each figure grew stiff when their names were called. The female licked a drop of blood that swelled under her nail and looked at the side of her Captain's head.

"Okay… So what's so special about Louge Town!?" she demanded. She wasn't going to travel that far, with someone who was going to complain the entire way, without knowing the reason she was leaving. She wouldn't put her beloved inventions in harms way for some unworthy reason. And she wouldn't put up with her partner saying how stupid and inconceivable her choice of traveling was.

"There's a child there…I want you follow him, gain his trust…join his crew if you have to," the Captain answered. Sora took another drag on his cigarette.

"Why?" he asked.

"Yeah, I mean, he's a kid," Kalona shifted and played with her fingers again, "What can he do?" Her sentence ended with a nervous giggle, like the thought of a child doing anything worth gaining her Captain's attention was ludicrous.

The Captain stepped forward, holding out the flyer in his hands to be taken by one of them. Kalona choose to pull the paper free. "He's Monkey D. Luffy… there's much that he can do," he answered.

"D.?…," Sora leaned over to looked at the paper. His voice seemed to catch in his throat and he gave a violent cough, "You mean-…! He's **his** son!" He looked up into the Captain's face.

"Yes…When you feel that the time is right…I want you to kill him…" he ordered.

"Aye, Captain!" Kalona saluted with two fingers. She then turned and disappeared through the doors behind the crew.

"Yes, Sir!" Sora did the same, though stayed put on deck as the crew dispersed to do whatever they did in the early morning. The Captain choose to walk towards the bow and wait for the sun to rise. Sora turned back to the door when Kalona returned, carrying a bag in one hand and a sleek metal board in the other. She tossed the bag to her companion and held the board parallel to the ground. When she released it, it dropped a foot before taking to hovering. She jumped onto the interesting piece of technology, choosing a spot in the front while she waited for Sora to fix the bag at his side. He snuffed out his cigarette in the heel of his shoe and flicked it overboard before jumping onto the board behind Kalona. Once he wrapped his arms around her waist, she maneuvered the board around and took off, flying high enough in the sky that the two quickly disappeared under a blanket of stars.


End file.
